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First of all, thank you for signing up to this exchange! I only really got back into writing fiction last year after a significant break, and exchanges like this have been my way of both making friends in writing and wiring up my brain to the development process all over again. I love getting feedback from writing in exchanges like this, but also there's a certain pleasure it has to be said in giving someone a gift knowing it's something they're going to enjoy.

But you're here because you're creating for me, which is a whole other kettle of fish. I try not to be too picky in my demands, and you can just jump on AO3 and go from the bare bones of what I've provided and pretty much you'll turn out something I'll enjoy. But for those people who want a little more persuasion and direction, that's what a letter is good for. Take something, or a part of an idea, or turn the whole thing on its head, I really don't mind, just please, I hope, enjoy creating for me as much as I do for my giftee!

Please feel free to include as few or as many characters as you like, engage in crossovers at will (explained or not), so long as you adhere to my one 'do not want', which is please don't bring in any OCs that are in there just to ship with a canon character. That's it. Everything else is free ball.

Characters (signed up): Dean Winchester, Sam Winchester, CastielCanon point: Finished S10, no spoilers!Other characters: Alastair, Azazel, Crowley, Lucifer, Gabriel, God, Chuck, Bobby, Dead!Winchesters etc.Plot ideas/things I like reading about: old demon knights hanging out shooting the shit about Lucifer, archangel siblings pre or post fall, Castiel and the other members of his unit, dumb family Winchester stuff, adventures in time, everything is written in Chuck's narrative style, or from the Impala's perspective, or in third person like an SPN documentary... Crossovers and drunk nights out and the things that happen in karaoke bars.Tricks: I am all for horrorful things, especially in this fandom. I mean what fandom does horror best? Oh wait. But you know...you get the point. For this, if you're going to go down the dark and or darkshippy option, torturing one of my signed up guys with any of the demons/angels mentioned in 'other' is a workable option. I mean, if you have to.Treats: I ship all sorts of stuff in this fandom, but I admittedly lean toward the darker kind of ship, i.e. bad guy/good guy, or good guys who are getting together for disfunctional reasons. Basically ship any demon/angel/brother from the above list with Dean and make him snark all the way through it and we're golden. Treats would also include gen where Dean is loving on his car (not like that! gen! a soft turtlewax rubdown!), or cutesy humorous things which play humorous with what is usually spooky. Like spn. I also love 4th wall breaking, so put the Winchesters boys in a convention hall listening to their actors doing a Q&A, idk.

due South

Characters (signed up): Ray Vecchio, Ray Kowalski, Benton FraserCanon point: Finished!Other characters: I love the other characters in this, but if you choose this one for me, please focus on (or one of) our trioPlot ideas/things I like reading about: Here is my secret santa letter, which has some general ideasTricks: I am unhelpful and haven't the slightest idea how you'd trick me for dS, but that's probably why you should /squint Try me.Treats: Give me all the fluffy shippy stuff and omg puppies. I don't need to tell you more than that.

Battlestar Galactica

Characters (signed up): Leoben Connoy, Kara ThraceCanon point: Finished!Other characters: Any other characters are fine in this, but mostly Cylons plsPlot ideas/things I like reading about: I love my Cylons and anything where they're all interacting is amazing. Tricks: Give me terrible horrible scary and gross, whether humans are responsible or Cylons are, or it's the universe being dreadful to everyone ever. Give me bad ends and dead people and any other horrible things you can think of.Treats: Good shippy Leoben/Kara is not a treat, it's cruel and unusual, and you can trick me with it and I'll be terribly happy, but if you want to treat me give me gen of them sniping at each other or one of them doing their own cool thing or something. Kara in love with flying or just Cylons being dumb about normal human things or some rambling about god and love and space.

Star Trek (generally)

Characters (signed up): The Doctor (Star Trek) Kathryn Janeway (VOY) Tom Paris (VOY) Naomi Wildman (VOY), Jean-Luc Picard (TNG) Guinan (TNG) Q (TNG) William Riker (TNG) Data (TNG)Canon point: Series complete, extended material so so. I've read most of the Q novels, and the two novels following Voyager, so EU things involving those are a ok.Other characters: Background characters are all good! All shipmates, aliens, various family and visitors, Lady Q, BB!Q, made up diplomats, crossover characters and historical characters in holoform or otherwise.Plot ideas/things I like reading about: Anything that shows the character of these great characters and develops them, things that challenge me the way the show did, or clever writing. I love funny Trek cartoons, anything that brings characters together who would rarely meet, and time travel.Tricks: Creepy Borg assimilation stories, unf. Tom Paris' holodeck program, the Halloween episode! Treats: A treat in this fandom would be anyone shipped with Q, aforementioned funny cartoons or cartoonish moments, or Spock and Janeway sitting down to have tea together. Just. If you know absolutely it would make your own little Trek heart squeal with glee it would probably delight me too. Naomi Wildman or Alexander get advice from their respective shipmates regarding celebrating Halloween. SHOW ME.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Characters (signed up): Spike (BtVS) Angel (BtVS) Drusilla (BtVS) Buffy Summers (BtVS) Willow Rosenberg (BtVS) Rupert Giles (BtVS) Xander Harris (BtVS) Ethan Rayne (BtVS)Canon point: Up to S7, no comics etc.Other characters: Anyone is good as a background character, or canon alternate universe stuff is fun too, trips to LA, so feel free to bring in anyone involved in that.Plot ideas/things I like reading about: I prefer my Buffy canon back when I understood it and the supplementary material/meta didn't make me want to pull my hair out. I just love me some boring old scoobies in their sitting on a hellmouth high school talking about snoopy and stabbing vampires. If I like shippy stuff, it's set pre actual shippy stuff, or in the case of vamp/vamp ships back in time to pre series, or post Angelus reunion but before Hell, if possible.Tricks: Buffy is a great series for tricks. One of my favorite episodes is actually the Dracula one just because it is tropey and dumb and beautiful. So hammer horror style crack, or real serious kinderstod/gentlemen style monsters are all awesome tricks. I love grimdark aus and becoming a monster povs, canon or non-canon. Angelus/Buffy, or Rupert and Ethan getting it on......Treats: For shippy stuff in this canon I love unrequited love or unrequited love becoming requited. Xander/Willow, Buffy/Willow, Spike/Dru, Spike/Buffy, Giles/his guitar. I also love crossovers with other creepy fandoms like X-Files and SPN.

Gotham

Characters (signed up): Jim Gordon (Gotham (TV)) Harvey Bullock (Gotham (TV)) Edward Nygma (Gotham (TV)) Bruce Wayne (Gotham (TV)) Alfred Pennyworth (Gotham (TV)) Selina Kyle (Gotham (TV))Canon point: Finished S1Other characters: Including other characters or bringing in things from elsewhere in the various DC canons is all good as far as I'm concerned. Bring in a new villain, or bring back an old one.Plot ideas/things I like reading about: I like to get my motive fix, getting right inside the head of the characters involved, or cute Bruce and Alfred or Bruce and Selina or Selina and Ivy things. I don't read much of this fandom but I can imagine what I want to read. Anything that expands on Jim and Bruce's relationship.Tricks: Gotham is a dark and horrible place, show the young, optimistic Bruce how terrible Jim Gordon's mob world is, or reflect on Alfred's pain after getting so badly injured, what it would mean if he died.Treats: Cute kidlets doing cute kidlet things. I'm not much of a shipper in this fandom. Or Nygma discovering the joy of riddles! Halloween style fic, or something nice happening in Gotham for once. A parade!

Due South Sekrit Santa 2015

A new year, a new Santa! Hello secret gift giver, and welcome to my letter! I think, as it turns out, I covered a whole lot of what I do and don't like in my descriptions, but I did want to personally thank you for gifting for me this year.

Last year was my first time returning to any fandom and writing for it, and doing it in the form of gift giving was really an enormous joy. I love writing things for people, and I love receiving things that were made just for me--it fills me with the warm fuzzies. Mostly it was the warmth and inclusiveness of everyone in the due South fandom that welcomed me in that stuck with me well after the fact. I was thrilled to receive a fantastic gift last year, which now is part of a series from the talented Butterfly Ghost, and I enjoyed writing Santas so much that I wrote extra.

I love due South immensely, and I think I've made it very clear in my requests that something red moving fast is all it takes to distract me. Compose a gift for me with the love that you yourself have for the fandom, and I'll love it with all my heart. That's all I want for Christmas.

The story so far: Lucifer has stolen the four rings of the Horsemen of the Apocalypse, which are from the world of Supernatural and contain the powers of the Horsemen. In the coming days, he will be distributing these rings to his chosen Ringbearers; Pestilence to Hannibal's Frederick Chilton, War to Community's Jeff Winger and Famine to SHIELD's Raina. Then, come June, all Hell will break loose. Mostly. It'll try.

The Ringbearer Plot will last from June 1st to June 7th, with the stages staggered so that the effects last for three days each. Now that ringbearers have been chosen, we're ready to share the details with you all and get you plotting together, so feel free to use this post to make your plans! First, just a wall of text for you to read through:

Remember that being affected by rings is OPT-IN, and can be mixed in with whatever else you're doing. Involvement in the logs isn't essential to be able to use the effects in your own network posts or logs of your own. Basically, just have as much fun with it as you can, it makes us happy.

PestilenceThe Oneiroi Fever, June 1st to June 3rd

Showrunner: Frederick Chilton

As one of the ring bearers, Chilton's personal power will direct the manifestation of Pestilence. The Pestilence ring intermingling with Frederick Chilton's imPort-born sedative excretion will create the Oneiroi Fever, a pestilence that will make victims seem as though they are in a state of deep sedation, even living death.. This plague will be consciousness borne and will infect sentient people at random (of the humanoid variety, animals are excluded -- Chilton's interest is in people). Infection-by-consciousness ensures that a player does not have to be in proximity of an infected person to risk infection; you just have to THINK about them.

ONSET SYMPTOMS include haziness, hallucinatory dreamlike things intermingling with reality, sluggishness, loss of motor skills. This would be a relatively rapid descent into indefinite slumber, the quickest case taking mere minutes while the more resistant might fend it off for up to a couple of hours.

VICTIM LEVELS include three options, depending on what you want your infected character to suffer. While all victims will be physically unresponsive to the outside world, a magic/sleep skills-based character with a milder infection IS ALLOWED to communicate beyond their physical limitations if their power set allots for it. Otherwise, for all intents and purposes, you are dead unconscious.

Victims of the Oneiroi Fever CAN INTERACT WITH EACH OTHER in the "dreamscape". Consider it a collective unconsciousness, haha. HA. If someone with a milder case interacts with someone who is more severely infected, the milder case imPort risks greater infection. Victims roughing the "dreamscape" will face literally whatever they can imagine; while their physical forms cannot possibly sustain damage from their dreams, their psyches sure can. Dream agony feels just like real agony.

MorpheusThe mildest of the three. This level concerns the people in your life, and their cruelty or kindness you interpret. Ever wake up suddenly angry with someone, because they tipped a bowl of cereal on your head in your dream? That's Morpheus. It's the people person's dream state.

PhantasosThe middle range. The victim will suffer surrealistic fantasy dreams that are weird and absurd. This is the strangest of sleep, the unnerving nature of your mind. It can go dark, or funny, and the setting of a Phantasos level will involve woods, caverns, mountains, and other natural settings.

PhoebetorThe nightmare level. Catastrophe happens. Everything you most dread, every little horrific whisper in the back of your mind, that's going to happen with a Phoebeter severity.

THE CURE is simple. It can be deduced by characters, it can be found out accidentally -- however that is played out is individually up to you. The character who wishes to cure a victim of the Oneiroi Fever MUST expose how they truly and sincerely FEEL about the infected victim to the victim's face. And yes, despite the appearance of being recently deceased, the victim WILL hear what you have to say. It will cut through their "dreamscape" like the voice of God, but only they will head it in "dreamscape" land.

All characters will wake up by midnight on the 3rd, regardless of whether or not they've been cured.

OPT-OUT: the plague is spread randomly from its originator point (i.e. by player choice), and will not necessarily infect everyone who comes into contact with it.

BONUS ROUND: Lucifer himself may be dropping into some dreams to see the effects of his meddling, please visit Reg's permission post HERE.

WARLawyers Suck, June 3rd to June 5thShowrunner: Jeff Winger

Next up is the War Ring, which will bring with it plenty of arguments, fights and a death toll. There will be two stages to the developing symptoms of War, and will be spread via proximity to the ringbearer, Jeff Winger. Thanks to his work on television, Jeff will be doing plenty of travelling between cities to get the right shots (with focus on his home town, Nonah), while spreading the effects of war to any in the vicinity he goes to. Any character wanting to feel the effects of this ring are welcome to it.

ONSET SYMPTOMS:

Stage 1 will begin with a mild level of irritation. Victims may experience irritability, a step up in aggression, mild paranoia and the tendency to take things way out of context. During this stage Jeff will be close by to give out <i>encouragement</i>, finding argumentative friends and groups and willing them along with words of support. Think your friend is being a dick? Oh, Jeff <i>totally</i> agrees, surely you won't stand for that?! Did that guy just suggest something inappropriate? Maybe you better show him just what you think about that. Is that person over there actually a demon sent to take over humanity? Better go call them out on it! There might even be the occasional Winger Speech popping up here and then to inspire and rally the troops.

Jeff, however, will be playing for both sides, switching between people to egg them on in the hope of entertaining outcomes. His words are persuasive and with the effects of War behind them it's all just building up to the next stage…

Don't want an annoying lawyer and TV crew hanging around and goading you? The effects of war will work just fine without his helping shove towards chaos, Jeff is nonessential personnel to the fun and games, so feel free to take the angry to networks or your own logs.

Stage 2 will come a few hours after exposure to the ring's effects and will ultimately be what brings about the true ability of the ring. When reaching this stage victim's paranoia will start to deepen, giving way to the chance of hallucinations which can be shared with others, likely seeing people - either npcs or player characters - as familiar evil from their own world, the game world, or even SPN style demons. Those in this state will be able to easily form allegiances to fight their so called enemies and will experience an explosive temper, violent tendencies and a lower moral restraint. This is the stage where things really start to kick off, with the possibility for violence and, if approved below, death tolls.

Characters in this stage may go back to their government housing, for example, and discover that everyone dorming with them have suddenly become Russian spies! They'd better do something to stop it! They may step out on the street, having come from The Walking Dead to discover that everyone in the world is zombies! Behead the nearest stranger and run, right?

Illusions won't hold to what people are saying/doing, but that's where the paranoia comes in. Russian spies would swear that they're not Russian spies, wouldn't they? And if these Walking Dead zombies are talking then what does that say about you beheading your best friend in their sleep?

OPT-OUT: War will only be spread to those in Winger's general vicinity. Character's can just avoid crossing paths with him or not be in the same town at the same time to not feel the effects.

BONUS ROUND: Jeff will be taking his film crew round and capturing your discomfort, while possibly instigating some more of his own because he's a douchebag.

FAMINEFlowers are bad, June 5th to June 7thShowrunner: Raina

Raina will be receiving the famine ring from Lucifer knowingly and decide the best way to spread its reach is through her flower making ability. In preparation for the event, Raina will tap into the ring's power as she produces a massive amount of strong-smelling flowers before surrendering the ring willingly to Dean. These flowers will then be distributed out either by Raina personally or through some of Lucifer's minions worshippers, infecting any person who happens to catch their scent.

For how your character may end up with a flower, think old ladies on the street handing flowers to strangers/devil worshipping florists sending out free ~romantic~ deliveries/imPort fans thrusting random bouquets at the people they meet. They may simply be present in the decorative displays on a restaurant table, or they may be wound into your hair by friendly hippies. Feel free to come up with your own ideas.

ONSET SYMPTOMS: The famine ring works by digging into whatever your character is starved for. This means, the effects could manifest themselves in various ways depending on the character! Perhaps they have been repressing a crush and will feel the compulsive need to confess. Perhaps they have been on a strict diet and will feel the need to binge eat the whole time they are affected. Perhaps they will throw all caution to the wind and just indulge in a 48 hour sexathon! The options are unlimited!

As for how the famine will take effect, any character who happens to smell one of the infected flowers will suddenly feel a compulsive urge to act on their particular famine symptom. Their inhibitions will be thrown to the wind, and the character themselves may not even notice their behavior is odd. The longer and more prolonged their exposure to the flowers, the deeper they will sink into their particular symptom -- the more likely they will be to not feel any remorse, guilt, or regret associated with their actions until the ring's power has run its course.

THE CURE: The effects will fade as the flowers wilt naturally. Subsequently, the flowers can be killed prematurely and thus cause the effects to fade sooner! So bust out those weed killers, folks.

OPT OUT: Famine will be spread only through the scent of the flowers. As long as a character remains unexposed, they will be unaffected!

BONUS ROUND: Abduxel will be going about delivering Raina's flowers to the outside of churches, public gardens, adding them to restaurant bouquets - also drug rehab centers, oops - and will be making private deliveries of flowers to all sorts of people (especially his own CR). To sign up for Abduxel to drop your character a flower - either in a nice box or bouquet, or casually placed in their office/home where they'll not notice it until it's too late, apply in THIS COMMENT.

Mini FAQ

Q. What is happening?A. Lucifer has stolen some magic rings, and given them to some people who are going to make the crazy.

Q. Does my character need to actually have the ring to be affected by them?A. No. All your character needs to do to be affected by the ring is to be in the general vicinity of someone holding it, sniff/carry around one of Raina's magic flowers, or be in close contact with someone affected by the oneiroi virus.

Q. How do I join in?A. There will be a log put up for each stage of the plot, just throw up your own starters! Otherwise feel free to start your own logs, or post your own things to the network. Go wild!

Q. What if I want to opt out?A. Easy, just don't come into contact with any of the magic rings, flowers, or infected people.

Q. When do the effects wear off?A. The effects will wear off at midnight on the last day of each ring's three day grace period. Otherwise, all three rings can be overpowered: feelings are the cure to the oneiroi virus, Raina's flowers can be destroyed or abandoned, and war can be overpowered by peace...or immobilization.

Q. Can my characters be affected by more than one ring?A. Yes absolutely, they just need to find themselves exposed to another ring to be affected by it too!

Q. Will NPCs be affected too?A. You betcha. It's probably best not to be in a restaurant after Jeff leaves, and the locals start a literal food fight. Baguette to the head anyone? What do you mean the pilot fell asleep, who's going to land the plane? And the post-church service orgy is going to be... Well, you get the idea. It's chaos out there. It's the apocalypse, after all.

Q. What will happen to the rings?A. Dean will be collecting them during the plot. You're welcome to accuse him of keeping dangerous things where any old dark lord can get them, try and steal them for yourself, etc. but ultimately Dean needs them so that when he goes back to his own time he can still cram Lucifer back into Hell.

Q. What about Death's ring?A. Lucifer will be holding onto this ring himself, since it's very powerful. It's bait, to bring Sam and Dean to him, but it may just annoy Death herself, so keep an eye out.

Q. I noticed that in the War section it mentions violence and mood swings and murderousness/the Famine that my character is restraining themselves from is slaughtering innocents; can my characters kill NPCs?A. There are a limited number of NPC death slots (30), which means that if your character does want to murder they can do so. In the interest of keeping track of numbers, there is a section to fill out below. However! There may be extra slots left over, so please mention whether or not you'd like more kills attributed to your character, and once everyone's chimed in, I'll review the numbers and get back to you!

Q. What about player character death and/or game world destruction?A. As with any player character death or game world destruction, permission has to be given by the mods, so please go HERE!

Q. I have another question!A. Ask it below!

So plot, profit! If you have any further questions then ask below, otherwise fill out the plotting blurb for each of your characters (or not) and go crazy.

Hello dear Secret Santa, my name is Reg and you don't know me. I lurked in the due South fandom a bazillion years ago and missed my calling, but here I am twenty years later to put that mistake to right. In any case it's quite obvious if you are cursed with gifting me that what I want is quite possibly either all over the place or oddly specific, so here is my dear Santa letter to hopefully clear up some of that confusion. None the less, I hope you do with the request what you will, and in the general scheme of things I hope you enjoy writing for me.

As you can tell from my requests I like my main guys, all alone or in any combination. Write me a fic about Fraser flossing his teeth if that's what you feel like and I'd probably love it. Well okay, a fic about all the cars Ray Kowalski has owned, I don't know; all I'm saying is give me boys demonstrating the passion and life we see in them in the show and I am one content puppy.

But specifics here, let's break it down:Challenge 1 is sort of like, somewhere between feed me kink and give me all the awkwardness. I love fics set in Vegas, where Ray has to keep his undercover identity intact no matter the cost, I like fics set at Vecchio's wedding to Stella where RayK needs some TLC, I like awkward discovering each other on stake outs or bank vaults or locked in tight places, guys switching roles or fighting for dominance (Ray/Ray especially), semi-public police station restroom liaisons and Fraser out of his depth (or maybe the opposite) at bdsm meets and bondage clubs. Accidental or very much on purpose, raging with UST or maybe just a desperate situation turning physical, do with it what you will.

Challenge 2 is the most specific of the three. Consensual or nonconsensual memories are haunting one of the boys. Any of the three is fine. Maybe RayV's breakup with Irene was motivated by her brother in a more physical way, maybe Vegas broke him/got him addicted to something, maybe Victoria's back in town, or her tragic murder gets Fraser catatonic with grief, maybe something truly traumatic happened to RayK that made him so willing to lend himself to undercover work. It doesn't have to be explored in present tense, it can be implied or mentioned through flashbacks, the point is whoever it is needs healing. It doesn't have to be shippy--so long as the real tenderness and dedication they have to each other as partners shows through, I will be content to the end of my days.

Challenge 3 I threw in because given, the first two have potential to be really kinky or really dark, and maybe a lighter note was needed. It's a get out of jail free card, maybe, in that all I really want is partners being partners. Maybe there's a relationship element, in which case take your pic of the suggested prompts or make up your own. I am all for soft and fluffy, for adventures where they just hang out, for closets and campfires and gently rocking to sleep on a sailboat. The affection and trust they have for each other, whether pure friendship or something more, is the most important element.

I hope that goes some way to filling in the blanks between the prompts, but whatever you write I'm sure I'll love every word of it.

A quick post for holiday cards. So it's that time of year again and I neglected to send out very many cards last year so this time I'm doing something a little special. If you know me or even barely know me, feel free to drop your name and address here - comments are screened, and the post will be deleted as soon as cards are all whisked away to their destinations. If you want to send a card back, ping me, or leave the link to your own post in your comment.

Bonus points, if we have really close CR and you want something more personal, or you want a themed card based on Star Trek, Doctor Who, Harry Potter, Heroes or Red Dwarf, mention that in your comment and I'll see what I can do. Favorite characters or pairings might also be a good thing to mention. People who know me well know that I try to do something personal for my friends when the Christmas season rolls around in lieu of being able to give gifts, and I will absolutely do my best to honor that tradition. The alternative to the themed cards this year is the most gorgeous thing, so don't panic if you're not keen on Sci-Fi, you'll love what I have in store regardless.

P.S. If you don't celebrate Christmas I'd be delighted to send you a Happy Holidays/New Years card instead. This is just a tender thank you to you all for being awesome all year.

Flying Senator to the State of New York, Head of Internal Security, former CEO of the pharmaceutical giant Pinehearst, former ADA for NYC, FO for the US Navy, served in three wars, baseball star and valedictorian; husband, father, brother, son.

Thoughts, Feelings, Sensations

flying: a sensation of weightlessness, freedom, and velocity. Nathan flies once a day to remind himself that the Tranquility is real and that he's not in any messed up Silent Hill world where natural laws don't exist. For other characters, this might manifest as the sudden feeling of there being no ground under your feet, or the sensation of falling when you're standing still. It might be as dangerous as having the absolute certainty that you can fly, and that if you step off a balcony in the gardens you'll be able to soar safely down into the belly of the ship, with waterfall spray on your face.

exhaustion: Nathan considers himself important to the function of the ship, and he keeps busy. As a result, he's often drained. Other characters might experience tiredness when they've only been awake for a few hours, or it might manifest in caffeine jitters when you haven't drunk a cup--Nathan's tolerance is very high, but the same can't be said for everyone.

animal contentment: he talks and plays with his (brother's) pet dog Izzie at the very least twice a day. Studies show that interaction with animals gives an endorphin rush, so for others moments of unexplained happiness are a possibility, or irritation out of nowhere, such as happens when throwing a ball stops being a game and turns into a chore.

suspicion and paranoia: exactly what it says on the tin. As one of the few remaining characters on Smiley's original list - at least that retain their original numbers - and having been subjected to some of the worst of the Tranquility's maliciousness, Nathan experiences rushes of paranoia. The feeling of being watched this month won't improve that. Characters might be speaking to someone during a perfectly normal conversation and feel a rush of certainty that they're concealing something; not telling the whole truth.

ambition: one of Nathan's strongest motivators. He wants to know it all, and come out on top of the pile. This will manifest as unexplained feelings of superiority, which might be stranger for some than others. It isn't about suspicion that you're better, it's knowing absolutely that it's true. A superiority complex boasts the side effect of stepping on other people to get your way, and walking the path of the morally gray, and decision making will be biased toward what profits you, in the long term, the most. Remember, it's not about selfishness, it's about status, so the long game is what's important.

Ways to recognize his memories

Nathan is 'Mr Petrelli' to most people, and called it frequently. He's Nathan to his family, Petrelli to colleagues and bosses, and most of the people on the Tranquility. In some memories he'll be called 'Senator'.

He wears good suits, usually with a Republican red tie, and is frequently surrounded by American flags of all shapes and sizes. And bunting. Lots of bunting. The general effect is one of affluence. Accents will usually be a variety of New York dialects, and cabs will be yellow. The air will smell of car engines, garbage and the ocean, but he will always be meticulously clean and carry the aroma of a rich, sandalwood scented aftershave (unless you get bearded Nathan in which case the scent is Eau d'Alcool and broken dreams).

Memories

Childhood

Nathan reads to baby Peter in a tent fort by torchlight.

When teaching Peter to skate, age 5, he wobbles out into the middle of the rink where the elder kids are racing in circles, and Nathan rescues him.

A first flying lesson in a shiny Piper training aircraft. Confidence at the controls, and a feeling of belonging.

This is a repressed memory, as in Nathan doesn't even remember it. I'm going to reserve it for characters who also have some telepathic ability: Nathan's girlfriend dies in a pool accident, and his mother helps him cover it up.

A family Christmas. There's a sense of loss but the melancholy hanging over the occasion is broken by an enormous black labrador with a bow around its neck.

War

The sensation of high speed flight, an accelerated slingshot takeoff, and the hair raising experience of landing a jet plane on a moving ship.

Nathan speaking to his mother from a base. Peter is missing, and Nathan conceals the fact that he gave him the keys to his apartment.

A young blonde woman meets Nathan in a bar. They hit it off in fine style. She challenges all his best pickup lines, and they leave together. She is Claire's mother.

Nathan teaches Peter to fly, lets him take the controls for the first time. This is no little Piper aircraft, but a vast cargo plane, and indicative of Nathan's approach to his brother's 'education', always forcing him to run before he can walk.

Marriage, back in New York. His bride has black hair and incredibly pale blue eyes, and the marriage is luscious and overstated, in classical red and white; Peter is Nathan's best man.

The birth of his first son. Nathan is invited into the hospital room to see and hold the little boy for the first time. It's the proudest moment of his life.

Nathan comes to his father to demand he supports Peter no matter what, when his brother turns toward medicine. "He's your son as much as I am." Arthur, disgusted, instructs Nathan to stop trying to live Peter's life for him, and informs him that he has to get his head around the fact that he's always going to be more important, destined as he is for bigger things, than his younger brother. "Peter will never be anything special, and if you're smart, you'll cut him loose before he brings you down with him."

Canon

Any moment in canon is available to those who know it, but Nathan's motivations are complex and guarded, and I'd prefer to keep a lid on any play by play intimate I was there knowledge of the entire series, if that's okay. That said, these are just a small collection of possible moments for those that don't know the canon (or prompts for those that do), and if more details about something are necessary, drop a comment below, and i'll elaborate.

Driven off the road by another vehicle, Nathan flies out of the car and it crashes while still at high speed, with his wife in the passenger seat.

Peter jumps from a rooftop, having phoned Nathan to make him show up. Nathan flies up to catch him.

Nathan meets Claire's mother in the trailerpark where she lives. She shows him a picture of Claire, then bribes him to keep her mouth shut. As they drive him away, a stone smashes the rear window of the car.

Nathan destroys the painting of Peter's death with a pot of black paint.

Peter has been brought, dead, back to the house, a shard of glass in the back of his head. Nathan is devastated, holds him and cries. While Angela plots to conceal his death until after the election, Claire slips into the room and removes the shard, bringing Peter back to life.

S1 finale. Nathan approaches Kirby Plaza from above. Landing, he tells Peter that the future isn't set in stone, and "You saved the cheerleader so that we could save the world." They take off together, Nathan burning from the radiation, lets Peter go and he explodes. He falls unsconscious in mid air believing it to be the moment of his death.

Nathan believes Peter to have died in the explosion. After he wakes up, miraculously healed, his life crumbles. He takes to drinking, his wife leaves him, taking his children with her, he defaults his position as Congressman, and he grows a hideous beard.

During his quest with Matt to find his brother - and now thankfully shaven - Nathan finds himself telepathically imprisoned by Maury, where - in a nuclear ravaged city - he fights with a radiation burned version of himself, until they realise they're fighting each other.

Nathan is about to announce the existence of people with powers to the world. He's shot twice in the chest, and dies. Peter revives him. The next time he wakes, he believes himself to be an angel, and his visit to the hospital chapel is recorded by the news.

Nathan - along with the Senator's aide, whose life he saved when she jumped off a bridge - discover that their abilities are synthetic--and then Spider!Mohinder tries to kill them.

Peter, Nathan and the Haitian find themselves moving through the jungle. They're hunting for the Haitian's brother (who is usually invulnerable and has decreed himself a god and dictator thanks to his powers) during the eclipse, while all of them have lost their powers. After they kill the dictator, Nathan leaves, abandoning his brother on the island. He believes that this is only another example of powers being used for ill, and that he has to stop it from happening again.

Peter is trying to destroy a drug that would give people synthetic abilities.They fight, and Nathan takes to hitting him with a section of steel pipe. The spilled drug catches fire. Seeing no other escape route, Peter injects himself with the last dose of the synthetic ability and saves Nathan's life. Outside, Nathan tells Peter that he wouldn't have saved him and flies away as the building burns.

Nathan sits in a limousine with the President of the United States (played by Michael Dorn). He's told him about people with special abilities and drafted a way to address the problem, selling them out.

Ataraxion

Peter was one of the first to become sick during the Stasis Sickness event. Nathan stayed with his brother, even after he was put into a medically induced coma, until the sickness consumed him.

During the Silent Hill event, Nathan experienced a return of his burned reflection haunting him, and then found himself in a world where New York had been destroyed by the bomb. There was a strong impetus for him to climb to the top of the nearest tall building and jump, believing he could fly, but each time he would die, the sidewalk coming up to meet him.

Nathan discovers his mask, which is Sylar's face. He studies it for a while, drawn like everyone else, but catches it shifting out of the corner of his eye into his own face. He locks it in a box, unsettled and disgusted.

Nathan finds a folded flag and a rose in his locker, along with the bloodied clothes of his own demise. He resentfully dresses in the clothes, but zips the jacket up to the top, and hides the flag and rose.

Overarching theme: ALL memories, thoughts, feelings and sensations will accompany a a strong sense of physically moving through a vast building with high ceilings. This is Hannibal's memory palace. No memory or thought will exist on its own; imagine if you will that the memory itself is linear, but someone's gone through the text commenting on every facet. If the memory is of Hannibal eating dinner with Clarice, a large portion of his thoughts will be on the relevance of that moment, its place in relation to the past, the future, and further the taste of the food, the origin of the steak, the make of the tablecloth, the first time he saw candlelight on her hair. It is all relevant to Hannibal, and so it will be a sensory overload to anyone looking in on it.

HOWEVER anyone experiencing his memories will also not feel quite right. At first, it'll be difficult to explain exactly why, but the more indulged the link is, the more obvious Hannibal's detachment will be. He does not moralise, he finds grim things amusing but he is never amused, and nor will he really be feeling any emotions or empathy at all. Any sense of loss must come from the receiving side. Hannibal knows he's a sociopath, he knows he doesn't feel the way other people do, and he will not feel a sense of loss to clue other people in to that absence, so while deeply inside any memory it will feel natural.

Which leads me to my first offering:

morality suspended: As mentioned above, Hannibal doesn't suffer the burden of empathy. Characters will be subjected to the feeling of nothing. They could be in the arms of their lover, looking deep into their eyes, be told 'I love you' for the first time only to come up completely blank. Faced with moral decisions, Hannibal's unbalanced morality will disrupt decision making. In his mind it doesn't matter if good or evil prevails, he's only interesed in how interesting the process is, and what level of control it affords him.

sense of smell: When Hannibal cooks each evening, or brews tea in the gardens at lunchtime, these might bombard you more frequently, but scents of clinical antiseptics, rain, jungle undergrowth, or even the smell of the urinal, are all potent enough that with his sense of smell they'll jump. Characters experiencing this will suddenly be struck by intense scents from which they should be able to pick out minute details, even if they've never come into contact with the ingredients before.

sense of taste: Hannibal is a magnificent chef, and he cooks mostly for himself. Characters may experience the most delicious thing they've ever tasted settling in under their tongue for whole minutes at a time. It will be mouthwatering.

shifting interest: Hannibal doesn't have much time for things that bore him. The same will apply to other characters who will find that dull subjects long and conversations with no real meat to them will suddenly become completely unendurable. This is only because Hannibal's focus shifts so quickly that the feeling of it being so will reach across, it'll just be more effective if your character is also bored.

unexplained music: did you hear a harpsichord playing? are your ears decieving you? it's all very odd. Hannibal plays classical eastern European music, and his favourite is Bach. He prefers to play when the gardens are quiet in the late evening, so characters who head to bed around that time may find themselves unable to sleep through the melody in their heads.

dark fantasies: lesser so, but on the very odd occasion someone will be rude to Hannibal, and he will let his mind run over the potential retribution. Images conveyed will be incredibly violent, and accompany scents, the blurred concept of ingredients, flavors, names, times, a sequence of thinking so fast it's hard to track the intent. Because these are all borne from his imagination, the feeling of moving through the memory palace will be much more intense.

Ways to recognize his memories

Medical profession will narrow the list of possibilities down extraordinarily. For most of his life, Hannibal has been known as Hannibal, or as Dr. Lecter (apart from Mischa who called him Aniba). His Ataraxion memories will identify him as Dr. Fell, but a mix of the two is quite acceptable.

I am quite willing to have Hannibal's identity and his crimes come out during the process of this plot, since it'd be difficult to avoid without not involving him at all. Ideally, I'd like to see the results impact moral thinking and approach to law on the ship, though that would depend how brave your character is. Hannibal kills people he suspects might know enough to reveal him, and the only way to beat that is to get to the reveal before he has the chance.

Memories

Childhood

A bright young boy is showing his younger sister how to read a sundial. They live in a beautiful castle in the forest.

Hannibal is sitting in a cart behind a horse with his mother and father, and his little sister. There is a feeling of urgency as they plod through a late summer forest.

Living in a little cottage hidden in the woods, safely hidden away during the war. A tank crashes into the clearing. A plane flies over pursuing the tank, which explodes. Everyone dies, leaving Hannibal alone with his sister.

Winter is vicious and it has brought cruel men to the house. They struggle to find food. One night they come for Hannibal's sister, who has fallen ill, and have to break his arm to take her away from him. The memory that comes straight after this is not available. Even though he does remember it, Hannibal physically chooses not to.

The same castle, this time full of children, most of them older and bigger than Hannibal. Mute, he says nothing as they insult him.

Visiting the market with Lady Murasaki, Hannibal is disgusted when a butcher insults her. Hannibal utters his first word in years as he attacks him, and that word is 'PIG'.

Hannibal seeks revenge so that his aunt doesn't have to. He borrows her ancestor's sword, then finds the butcher fishing and beheads him. He takes the head and labels it like meat.

Back in the clearing in Lithuania, Hannibal has found one of the men who killed his sister. He ties him between a tree and the old horse he knew as a child and urges the animal to move away. When the man is dead, Hannibal barbecues his cheeks with some wild mushrooms.

On Kolnas' canal boat, Hannibal rescues Lady Murasaki, and kills Kolnas even though she begs Hannibal to spare him. He is brutal, devastated as he is by being told that he ate his own sister, and carves an M into the man's chest with his knife.

Adulthood

Although I could cite a number of murders here, very few of them could be considered key moments. Hannibal rarely has any respect for his victims, and their deaths - though they would be key moments in their own lives - are footnotes in Hannibal's. There are a few exceptions.

Will Graham is on Hannibal's doorstep. He's clean shaven, bright eyed and pleasant. Hannibal greets him by name and brings him through to the study, but this <i>is not</i> the same Will Graham that exists on the TQ. When he tries to phone dispatch, Hannibal cuts the line, then drives a knife into Graham's chest. After striking him with a poker, Graham puts two bullets in Hannibal's chest before he passes out.

Clarice Starling visits for the first time. Hannibal has only a passing interest in her at first, but when she's insulted by Miggs, an unmistakable fury overtakes him. It tunnels his vision, is almost deafening, and he throws the frightened Starling a bone regarding Jane Gumb.

Hannibal's escape. Killing two guards, he dresses himself in the face of one and is carried out on a gurney. In the ambulance Hannibal slaughters the paramedics, takes the wheel, and calmly drives himself to the airport.

Hannibal writes Clarice Starling her letter from Italy. He begins by applying a hand lotion, writes, and then artfully draws a winged, breasted lion with her face.

The murder of Commandante Pazzi, in the spirit of his ancestors, on the night Hannibal flees Florence. Spilling him bound from the balcony, and hanging, his guts spill out at the extent of the rope, and fall into the plaza below. Hannibal waves to a distant camera as he steps out of sight and away.

Bound to a forklift, Hannibal is an arena of hungry pigs and surrounded by enemies. Clarice comes to his rescue. She unties him, but warns him that she will shoot him at the first sign of malintent. She is taken down by a bullet. Hannibal gathers her into his arms and carries her to safety through the pigs.

Itchy trigger finger. Casey has a passion for shooting, and he'll visit the range once a day, but when he's not doing that, he'll be thinking about shooting things, and wanting to shoot things. Characters should expect eratic thoughts about shooting people during conversations, and a general feeling of something missing from their hand.

Busy busy busy. Casey works in the shuttlebay, and that's most of what he does all day. With that will come the sensation of working hard and for long periods of time, and characters will smell oil and sweat, and have sore fingertips. Stage three links may experience hand injuries and electrocution.

Workout burn. Hard jogs, boxing, weights--Casey keeps fit, and he does it in 30 minute bursts morning and night. For others that means breathlessness, muscle soreness, aches and stitches.

Concentration. For one hour of every evening, Casey looks after his bonsai trees. This will be the only moment where he feels completely contented. Casey doesn't really have a calm center, but this is the closest he comes to it. Characters will feel peace, focus, and a sense of accomplishment and pride, but it will essentially represent the eye in the storm.

Uncalm centre. Casey solves his problems through action first, then thought. He shoots first and asks questions later, and impulsive decision making will come hand in hand with increased recklessness. You'll feel like a hero even if your character is normally cautious.

Ways to recognize his memories

Casey's former fiancee will call him Alex, his former unit and anyone training him as a youth will call him Coburn. After that it's Casey, unless he's identified by his rank.

Back in LA, Casey spent much of his time with Chuck and Sarah, drove a Crown Victoria and when he wasn't working secret spy missions for the government, worked cover at a Buy More. Casey personally considers himself the second in command in the shuttle bay, and Tranquility memories will make it blatantly obvious who he is.

Memories

There are other memories. Here are just a few, but I feel like I could list off practically everything in Casey's exciting, breakneck life.

The day before he leaves for the war, he asks his sweetheart Kathleen to marry him at a bus stop. She agrees.

A young Alexander Coburn, eager to serve his country, is offered a chance he can't refuse. "How would you feel if I told you that there was a covert Black Ops team of America's finest snipers, rangers, and men willing to do anything to protect this country, and that team wants you. And I'd say you have quite a choice to make: either go home to your family, or you become the soldier you always dreamed you could be. So tell me Lieutenant Coburn, you ready to die today?" He doesn't know that his young fiancee is pregnant.

While undercover, his lover - an associated press photographer - went to work while he slept in at their hotel. Moments after leaving the hotel, there was a bomb blast in which she died--though her death was later revealed to be faked.

At some point, Casey is disarmed by Gertrude, with whom he has a passionate romance. She is the only person to ever disarm him, and she keeps his gun in her office, proudly displayed on a stand.